From the Pulpit…

Donkey Thoughts

I read where a guy proclaimed, “I want to be a Jackass for Jesus!” I would like to think that I would not say the same, but then I started thinking about what Corrie Ten Boom replied when asked how she could be so humble with everyone telling her how great she was: “Young man, when Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments in the road and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him?” She continued, “If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in His glory, I give Him all the praise and all the honor.”
This spring-boarded me to thinking about the guy who gave the donkey for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and what he was thinking. We don't know his name or what he looks like. We only know that Jesus told His disciples: "If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, say that the Master has need of them, and he will send them at once."(Matthew 21:3)
Did this guy just give his animals to someone in need, or did he know it was Jesus who needed the donkeys? Did he worry about getting the donkeys back? Again, I ask these questions because these are questions that would come to my mind if the donkeys were mine. Realistically, there are times I want to keep my animals to myself for my own use or for those I know and trust. Sometimes I rationalize not giving by wondering if my giving would really make a difference in the long run. Sometimes I don't give because I’m not sure what to give or how to give, or I get busy and put things on the back burner.
And then there are the times God calls to my heart and I respond, feeling honored that a gift of mine would be used to carry Jesus forward and make a difference in the life of another.
The reality is that all of us have a donkey. You and I each have something in our lives which, if given back to God, could move Jesus and His story further down the road. Maybe you could reach out and help a friend or a neighbor, or encourage a child. Maybe you can sing, or hug, or teach a class, or speak a foreign language. Maybe you can give a cold glass of water to someone who is thirsty. Maybe you can write a check. Whichever, that's your donkey. Whichever, it could be that God wants to mount your donkey and enter into another place, another situation, another heart. On an even more personal note, like Corrie Ten Boom, you could even be the “donkey” yourself on which Christ rides in His glory!